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Tags: Divinity: Original Sin; Larian Studios; RPG Codex; Swen Vincke
For those who don't know, Swen Vincke is the founder of Larian Studios, developers of the Divinity RPG series. They've been doing the rounds lately talking about their newest game in the series, Divinity: Original Sin - and their plans to "partially" fund the game through KickStarter.
That of course is code for:
Swen has replied to those rumours about lack of money on his blog:
MarketResearchCodex: We should charge for that. Anyway, he continues because "the original quote in the article is actually not telling the entire story either, and it could do with a bit of nuance, so here goes":
Obviously LIES and MISTRUTHS created to DECEIVE us from understanding their real financial position. It also raises the question: Why are they doing a KickStarter if they don't need any money? Swen explains this away with "it’ll allow us to put more things in", "prevent us from having to take shortcuts" and "allow us to put more stuff in the editor". IE: Feature bloat. Swen even goes on to explain how FULL OF AWESOME Larian's AWESOME game is:
Where have we heard that before?
Swen continues:
Indeed.
Yes, rightfully wary.
We're taking you up on your offer, Mr Vincke. A highly qualified Codexian Approved, Real RPG Investigator™ is being contacted as we speak. We're even trying to source a native Belgonium speaker so as there's no "google translation issues". You need to be aware however, that this highly trained individual will be immune to the mind-numbing effect of Dorito's and Mountain Dew and will not be swayed by arguments of "this is just alpha" and "that will work better in the final version".
You have been warned.
For those who don't know, Swen Vincke is the founder of Larian Studios, developers of the Divinity RPG series. They've been doing the rounds lately talking about their newest game in the series, Divinity: Original Sin - and their plans to "partially" fund the game through KickStarter.
That of course is code for:
Roguey: Wow Larian ran out of money who could have possibly seen this co- Oh, look it was me!
Swen has replied to those rumours about lack of money on his blog:
[...] the thing that really made my weekend was getting the message that we were voted runner up for most anticipated RPG of 2013 at RPGWatch, receiving 22% of the votes. Major whistling because this is a site I visit daily to keep up to date on the antics of our fellow RPG developers. Being in their lists makes me feel pretty good, and tbh, even a bit smug because I had been dealing with quite some naysayers in the past about this game.
But because I learnt the hard way that “Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” I figured over the weekend that it was important to find a counterbalance and therefore decided to visit another site this morning... (insert doomy music)
THE RPGCODEX !!!
Specifically, the RpgCodex forums, your daily antidote to thinking you’re getting anywhere in the world of CRPGs, unless your name happens to be Chris Avellone.
And lo and behold, they didn’t disappoint
For those not familiar with the RPGCodex, it’s where you go if you’re looking for a hefty dose of RPG critical analysis wrapped in imaginative language (often involving gastrointestinal issues). Now despite the occasionally interesting wording and tendency to rant about what makes a true RPG, I think that more than often the posters there represent the unvented opinion of a lot of players, and if you’re into making RPG’s, you can learn a lot by reading between the lines. In the same breath I have to add that you’ll also need a very thick hide, preferably made of dinosaur scales, especially if you already dared release a RPG that they played. But together with the RPGWatch forums, you can get a lot of “market research” done by just spending some time there.
But because I learnt the hard way that “Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” I figured over the weekend that it was important to find a counterbalance and therefore decided to visit another site this morning... (insert doomy music)
THE RPGCODEX !!!
Specifically, the RpgCodex forums, your daily antidote to thinking you’re getting anywhere in the world of CRPGs, unless your name happens to be Chris Avellone.
And lo and behold, they didn’t disappoint
For those not familiar with the RPGCodex, it’s where you go if you’re looking for a hefty dose of RPG critical analysis wrapped in imaginative language (often involving gastrointestinal issues). Now despite the occasionally interesting wording and tendency to rant about what makes a true RPG, I think that more than often the posters there represent the unvented opinion of a lot of players, and if you’re into making RPG’s, you can learn a lot by reading between the lines. In the same breath I have to add that you’ll also need a very thick hide, preferably made of dinosaur scales, especially if you already dared release a RPG that they played. But together with the RPGWatch forums, you can get a lot of “market research” done by just spending some time there.
MarketResearchCodex: We should charge for that. Anyway, he continues because "the original quote in the article is actually not telling the entire story either, and it could do with a bit of nuance, so here goes":
Obviously somebody jumped on the Kickstarter part, and suddenly it started popping up on forums everywhere, including the RPGCodex where the phrase “partially funded through Kickstarter” was quickly translated into “Larian ran out of money”
The thread is here btw.
[...]
Basically, Divinity: Original Sin is already funded. Larian, together with two minority investors, one for each game (Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Dragon Commander), put sufficient amounts of cash in both games to guarantee that they get done. We’re even reasonably assured that the games won’t be a financial disaster because we managed to get sufficient guarantees from our retail distributors to earn back large parts of our money and, we only need to sell a fraction of our previous sales to be in the black.
[...]
Basically, Divinity: Original Sin is already funded. Larian, together with two minority investors, one for each game (Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Dragon Commander), put sufficient amounts of cash in both games to guarantee that they get done. We’re even reasonably assured that the games won’t be a financial disaster because we managed to get sufficient guarantees from our retail distributors to earn back large parts of our money and, we only need to sell a fraction of our previous sales to be in the black.
Obviously LIES and MISTRUTHS created to DECEIVE us from understanding their real financial position. It also raises the question: Why are they doing a KickStarter if they don't need any money? Swen explains this away with "it’ll allow us to put more things in", "prevent us from having to take shortcuts" and "allow us to put more stuff in the editor". IE: Feature bloat. Swen even goes on to explain how FULL OF AWESOME Larian's AWESOME game is:
The reason we received these guarantees is that the concepts are solid, our previous games sold well enough and to talk about Divinity: Original Sin specifically, if you see Divinity: Original Sin in action and love RPGs, any doubts you may have will disappear on the spot. This game is just cool.
Where have we heard that before?
Swen continues:
Because words are but words...
Indeed.
... and some posters on the Codex are rightfully wary of any rhetoric,
Yes, rightfully wary.
I’ll happily extend an invitation to one of them to come to our offices so we can show the game. I’m serious btw guys, but you’ll have to agree on who you send as an emissary, the emissary obviously being the person who knows a real CRPG from a a mutated adventure (evil grin
)
We're taking you up on your offer, Mr Vincke. A highly qualified Codexian Approved, Real RPG Investigator™ is being contacted as we speak. We're even trying to source a native Belgonium speaker so as there's no "google translation issues". You need to be aware however, that this highly trained individual will be immune to the mind-numbing effect of Dorito's and Mountain Dew and will not be swayed by arguments of "this is just alpha" and "that will work better in the final version".
You have been warned.
Thanks for the namedrop.
